Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, May 24, 2014

5-24-14 Saturday Matinée Special "Corporate ED Reform: Something's Fishy!" News Breakout


Saturday Matinée Special "Corporate ED Reform: Something's Fishy!" News Breakout



The Problem with Outcome-Oriented Evaluations | InterACT
The Problem with Outcome-Oriented Evaluations | InterACT: The Problem with Outcome-Oriented EvaluationsMAY 24, 2014by David B. CohenDavid B. Cohen:Teacher evaluation and value-added measures have both been topics of frequent consideration here at InterACT. This re-blogged post by Ben Spielberg makes some excellent points about both, and provides a fine explanation of why we need to be cautious abo
Tensions rise over NC charter school rejections | CharlotteObserver.com
Tensions rise over NC charter school rejections | CharlotteObserver.com: Tensions rise over NC charter school rejectionsBy Ann Doss Helmsahelms@charlotteobserver.comPosted: Friday, May. 23, 2014MORE INFORMATIONBill: Charters must disclose salariesNC panel approves 11 charters; rejects 60 othersTHE PLAYERSFor-profit management companies that applied to open N.C. charter schools in 2015-16. Find all
2nd Banana 5-24-14 Recap of Last Week's Best Post #EDchat #EDreform #RealEdTalk #p2
BIG EDUCATION APE 2ND BANANARECAP OF LAST WEEK'S BEST POSTMy End At LAUSD: Now On To A Neutral Forum (Mi Terminar en el LAUSD: Ahora en un foro neutral) - Perdaily.com(en español después) On Friday, October 8, 2010 LAUSD Chief Academic Officer Judy Elliott sent me a letter saying that she was going to submit my name to the LAUSD Board for dismissal as a teacher. In retrospect and in culmination of
Morning Wink 5-24-14 AM Posts #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
BIG EDUCATION APE - MORNING WINK  AM POSTSNYC Educator: Michael Mulgrew Says Bloggers Propagate MythNYC Educator: Michael Mulgrew Says Bloggers Propagate Myth: Michael Mulgrew Says Bloggers Propagate MythUFT President Mike Mulgrew harped on the theme of myth at the DA as he praised the contract and shut down anyone who dared disagree. At one point, he spoke of blogs as though they were loathsome r
NYC Educator: Michael Mulgrew Says Bloggers Propagate Myth
NYC Educator: Michael Mulgrew Says Bloggers Propagate Myth: Michael Mulgrew Says Bloggers Propagate MythUFT President Mike Mulgrew harped on the theme of myth at the DA as he praised the contract and shut down anyone who dared disagree. At one point, he spoke of blogs as though they were loathsome reptiles. He doesn't read them, but he knows they traffic in myths. He was being nice, he said, as he
Cartoons on Digital Natives and Immigrants | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
Cartoons on Digital Natives and Immigrants | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: Cartoons on Digital Natives and ImmigrantsThe interactions between technology-wise children and their parents or other adults is raw material for cartoonists. I am not sure whether “digital natives” is a category that I would use but it is popular. After the cartoons, take a look at the at the article
I am now convinced I was right
I am now convinced I was right: I am now convinced I was rightbyteacherkenFollow    Email  20 Comments / 20 Newwhen I decided not to return for another year in my current teaching position, a decision about which I previously wrote here.The senior students in our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program were supposed to participate in a poster session where they shared the results
5-24-14 Jersey Jazzman NJ Ed News Round-up Jammin' All Week
Jersey Jazzman:Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week"One Newark": A Market For "Lemons"I've got a new brief over at the NJ Education Policy Forum out today about One Newark. As usual, I present my geekspeak-free (mostly) version of this brief here.Here's the background: Cami Anderson, the state-appointed superintendent of Newark, has put out a plan to restructure the district's schoo
5-24-13 Curmudgucation Week
CURMUDGUCATION:Ap A-Ok?The US DOE, among its many promotional and marketing activities, has been pushing hard for AP classes. This week they aimed loud praise noises at the state of Colorado for increasing AP participation in the state. The laudatory article declares success because more students take and pass the AP courses.But before parents and students get too excited about the spreading and b
5-24-14 NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education
NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education:NPE News Briefsfrom The Network for Public EducationFirestorm erupts over teacher’s angry e-mail to legislators about low pay | The Answer SheetBY VALERIE STRAUSS May 23 at 2:28 pm An angry e-mail written by a teacher to North Carolina legislators with a subject line that said, “I am embarrassed to confess: I am a teacher,”  might have been s
5-24-14 THE WHOLE WEEK @ The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education
The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education:THE WHOLE WEEK @ The Whole Child Blog Transforming Schools to Become Innovation ReadyPost written by Laura Varlas Because tests don't require connection and collaboration, classroom education is being driven in one direction, while technology enables creation, curation, and connection. Educators are up against a global achievement gap, Tony Wagner expla
5-24-14 This Week in LA - School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD
LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):Happy Memorial Day!2 15h Stoner parents win, LAUSD removes co-located charterCWC Mar Vista Charter School Parents of students at Stoner Elementary School, who have been fighting to get the co-located Citizens of the World  Charter School Mar Vista (CWC) off their campus, have succeeded in their quest. A le
Stephen Krashen Blog 5-24-14
SKrashen:Free Advertising for DuolingoSent to the Japan Times, May 23, 2014Contrary to the impression given by The Japan Times's free commercial for Duolingo ("Duolingo chief shakes up language learning," May 23), there is no clear evidence that Duolinguo is effective in teaching foreign languages. The only research study done assessing the impact of Duolingo, which was funded by Duoling
5-24-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week
With A Brooklyn Accent:With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All WeekWhy It's Time to Go Green- A Guest Pot By Laurel M. SturtIn the last decade, the Democratic party has become increasingly indistinct from the Republican, both parties in virtually impervious thrall to the siren of money. As exacerbated by the Citizens United and McCutcheon Supreme Court decisions, the--for all intents and purposes--whol
5-24-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week
Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:Scathing Purple Musings  Color me purple in Florida ALL WeekHow Vouchers Killed Education Accountability for Florida TaxpayersWrites Scott Maxwell in the Orlando Sentinel: “The Return of the Living Dead” was a hoot. “Shaun of the Dead” and “Zombieland” perfected the conce
All Week @ The Answer Sheet 5-24-14
The Answer Sheet:All Week @ The Answer Sheet‘Let’s stop measuring fish by how well they climb trees’Joshua Katz is a high school math teacher in Orange County, Florida. He gave the following speech about what he calls “the toxic culture of education” today in a TEDx talk this month at the University of Akron. TEDx Talks is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to sha
5-24-14 Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Schooling in the Ownership Society All Week
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:Schooling in the Ownership SocietyMike Klonsky's SmallTalk Schooling in the Ownership SocietyBridging DifferencesAre Prosser teachers 'gaming the system'? Or is this reporter gaming them?"If anyone out there has been in Prosser for more than a second, they would see that you can't make a Prosser teacher do anything they don't believe in." -- Prosser teacher 
5-24-14 Wait What? All Week
Wait What?:  Wait What? All WeekUnion Leader says Pelto is anti-union?In recent weeks, one political pundit called me a “union stooge,” while the former Democratic Party Chairman, John Droney, referred to me as a “liberal ideologue.” But this morning, in a “What the _____” moment, the President of SEIU 1199NE, the great union that represents 19,000 Connecticut health care workers issued a press re
5-24-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week
Seattle Schools Community Forum:Seattle Schools Community ForumScience Fairs: Yay or Nay?by Melissa Westbrook / 20h Friday Open ThreadNaturally, in Seattle, the first "summer" holiday and it's raining. At the Columbus College of Art and Design, two anonymous students create art for all to enjoy. Something to show the artist in your home.New names to look for in, say 2019, in SPS classroo
5-24-14 Ed Notes Online Week
Ed Notes Online: Ed Notes OnlineFinal Performance Tonight of RTC "Moon...I saw the Rockaway Theatre Company Production of "Moon Over Buffalo" last night for the 4th time - and I still laughed at every line -- and there were so many. My column with some cool photos finally appeared in The Wave yesterday, a week late, which doesn't do anything for the box office. Not that my columns e
5-24-14 Fred All Week Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Fred All Week Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacherBob Peterson. A teacher union movement is rising.- Bob Peterson is President of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association. A revitalized teacher union movement is bubbling up in the midst of relentless attacks on public school
5-24-14 Perdido Street School Week
Perdido Street School: Perdido Street School WeekMurdoch Company Pays Andrew Cuomo At Least $700,000 For His MemoirOkay, this is absurd:ALBANY—Gov. Andrew Cuomo's book deal with HarperCollins is worth at least $700,000, according to a disclosure form Cuomo filed last week.The publishing house is planning to release Cuomo's autobiography, “All Things Possible: Setbacks and Success in Politics and L
5-24-14 the becoming radical EMPATHYEDUCATES! | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD
THE BECOMING RADICALRadical ScholarshipEMPATHYEDUCATES!the becoming radical  A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by Margaret Fuller: “I find no intellect comparable to my own”“Men disappoint me so,” Margaret Fuller shared in a letter (21 February 1841) to Reverend William Henry Channing. Born on May 23, 1810, Fuller was a contemporary of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, notable for what
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 5-24-14
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT  “WE TRUST THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION INTENDS TO EXECUTE ITS DUTIES IN A TRANSPARENT AND EQUITABLE MANNER”: Letter of reappointment of Stuart Magruder to the Bond Oversight Committeefrom the AIA/LA “ When the passage of Proposition 39 in 2000 led to the provision of the Education Code that required that the Bo
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Week… 5-24-14 …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EF
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFLLARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAYMay’s Best Tweets – Part FourEvery month I make a few short lists highlighting my choices of the best resources I through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. I’ve already shared in earlier posts several new resources I found on Twitter —
This Week's Education Research Report 5-24-14 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2
Education Research ReportTHIS WEEK'S EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORTCould text language and autocorrect technologies have an effect on writing skills?English teacher Carrie Beth Buchanan sees the effects of students' growing up in an age when communication is done in an abbreviated text language and where they depend on autocorrect to automatically solve the "i before e" literary dilemma."
5-24-14 Schools Matter All Week
Schools Matter:  Schools Matter All Week“Putting the 2-Step Over the ISTEP," Doug Martin, Otter Creek Democrat Club, Terre Haute, IN., May 21, 2014Here is the link to the video of my talk in Terre Haute, which is just over 16 minutes in length:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QlCX-I_m0o Hoosier School Heist author Doug Martin discusses his book and possible strategies Democrats in Vigo Count
All Week 5-24-14 @ THE CHALK FACE
@ THE CHALK FACE : All Week @ THE CHALK FACE NCTQ Gets Caught in a Data Collecting LieThe National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) will be “grading” university-level, traditional teacher training programs again soon. Last year, 2013, they released this report on June 18. They “grade” in a superficial manner, relying upon program artifacts to form skewed judgments– judgments that they publish in 
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG Diane Ravitch's blog 5-24-14 #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2
Diane Ravitch's blogLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONGDIANE RAVITCH'S BLOGGene Glass: This is the BASIS Sales PitchGene Glass, a distinguished researcher, wrote the following about a charter chain that is regularly lauded by U.S. News & World Report: Ever Hear a BASIS Schools Sales Pitch? The Basis charter schools – some ten schools in Arizona and a couple more in places like San Antonio an

YESTERDAY

NCTQ Gets Caught in a Data Collecting Lie | deutsch29
NCTQ Gets Caught in a Data Collecting Lie | deutsch29: NCTQ Gets Caught in a Data Collecting LieMay 23, 2014The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) will be “grading” university-level, traditional teacher training programs again soon.Last year, 2013, they released this report on June 18. They “grade” in a superficial manner, relying upon program artifacts to form skewed judgments– judgments
LAUSD Wants Rigor? Well, Maybe…LAUSD Retaliates
LAUSD Retaliates: LAUSD Wants Rigor? Well, Maybe…By Karen WolfeShare on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on pinterest_shareMore Sharing Services0Stuart MagruderThe LAUSD school board on Tuesday rejected the reappointment of one of its most rigorous overseers in what many see as retaliation for questioning the use of bond funds to purchase iPads.Stuart Magruder, AIA, LEED, is the appoint
A New Teacher Union Movement is Rising | Common Dreams
A New Teacher Union Movement is Rising | Common Dreams: A New Teacher Union Movement is Risingby Bob PetersonChicago Teachers Union rally in Daley Plaza in 2012. The nation's public schools, writes Peterson, "must become greenhouses for both democracy and community revitalization.' (Photo: pbarcas / cc / flickr)A revitalized teacher union movement is bubbling up in the midst of relentless att
The Truth About Online Learning
Online Learning: The Truth About Online LearningBy Ana Beatriz Cholo#157423666 / gettyimages.comFor those with Internet access, free online classes from Ivy League universities, taught by some of the world’s top professors, are just a click away. But to a grassroots coalition of organizations representing hundreds of thousands of college and university educators, there’s a reason this promise seem
Nite Cap 5-23-14 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2
James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAPThe Fordham Institute’s Misinformation About Missouri Standards & Common Core | Missouri Education WatchdogThe Fordham Institute’s Misinformation About Missouri Standards & Common Core | Missouri Education Watchdog: The Fordham Institute’

The Problem with Outcome-Oriented Evaluations | InterACT

The Problem with Outcome-Oriented Evaluations | InterACT:



The Problem with Outcome-Oriented Evaluations

MAY 24, 2014


Teacher evaluation and value-added measures have both been topics of frequent consideration here at InterACT. This re-blogged post by Ben Spielberg makes some excellent points about both, and provides a fine explanation of why we need to be cautious about relying on outcomes to evaluate teaching. Ben writes at 34justice.com where his bio notes: “Ben is currently a math instructional coach at two traditional public schools (one middle school and one high school) in San Jose, CA. He partners with all the teachers in both schools’ math departments to deliver high-quality instruction to students. ”
Originally posted on 34justice:
Imagine I observe two poker players playing two tournaments each. During their first tournaments, Player A makes $1200 and Player B loses $800. During her second tournament, Player A pockets another $1000. Player B, on the other hand, loses $1100 more during her second tournament. Would it be a good decision for me to sit down at a table and model my play after Player A?
For many people the answer to this question – no – is counterintuitive. I watched Player A and Player B play two tournaments each and their results were very different – haven’t I seen enough to conclude that Player A is the better poker player? Yet poker involves a considerable amount of luck and there are numerous possible short- and longer-term outcomes for skilled and unskilled players. As Nate Silver writes in The Signal and the Noise, I could monitor each player’s winnings…
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Tensions rise over NC charter school rejections | CharlotteObserver.com

Tensions rise over NC charter school rejections | CharlotteObserver.com:



Tensions rise over NC charter school rejections

Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991

MORE INFORMATION

  • Bill: Charters must disclose salaries
  • NC panel approves 11 charters; rejects 60 others


  • THE PLAYERS





    For-profit management companies that applied to open N.C. charter schools in 2015-16. Find all applications atwww.ncpublicschools.org/charterschools.





    •  Charter Schools USA: Based in Florida, the company operates 58 schools in seven states, including Langtree Charter Academy in Mooresville and Cabarrus Charter Academy in Concord. It applied to open nine schools in 2015; the state advisory board approved none. Details:www.charterschoolsusa.com.





    •  National Heritage Academies: Based in Michigan, the company operates 76 schools in nine states, including Queens Grant in Mint Hill. It applied to open three new schools, including one in Matthews. The advisory board approved one, in Greenville. Details: www.nhaschools.com.





    •  Accelerated Learning Solutions: Operates 21 Florida charter schools that focus on dropout prevention and recovery. Has been approved to open two schools in Charlotte, one in August and another delayed to 2015. Applied to add three new schools; the advisory board approved none. Details:www.als-education.com.





    •  Connections Education: The virtual education arm of Pearson education company, it won the advisory board’s approval to open a statewide virtual charter school for grades 6-12. Details:www.connectionseducation.com.





    •  K12 Virtual Schools: Also applied to open a statewide virtual charter school; the advisory board rejected the plan. Details: www.k12.com.





A state screening board’s recent decision to reject most charter school applications has sparked tension over the role private management companies should play in public education.
The N.C. Charter School Advisory Board approved only 11 of the 71 applications filed to open schools in 2015. That’s fewer than half the number approved for 2014, with a similar number of applications.
The board rejected 15 of the 17 applications from for-profit management companies. Board member Alan Hawkes of Greensboro, appointed by Senate leader Phil Berger, sent an email Monday chastising other members for being “judgmental and punitive” in rejecting plans that would have expanded charter enrollment.
“The plan was to have operators come into the state like they did in Louisiana and other states and quickly affect the public school choice landscape for the better and in quantity,” said Hawkes, a founding board member of two Guilford County charter schools run by the for-profit National Heritage Academies.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, most New Orleans public schools were replaced by charter schools, which currently serve about 90 percent of the city’s students. Hawkes said Friday that he doesn’t expect numbers like that in North Carolina but wants to see charter enrollment grow quickly and significantly.
Cheryl Turner, a Charlotte charter school director who also serves on the board, says Hawkes’ view will erode support for North Carolina’s charter school movement.
“Who in the world is going to agree to kill the public school system by bringing in private companies?” said Turner, director of Sugar Creek Charter School. “North Carolinians aren’t bigTensions rise over NC charter school rejections | CharlotteObserver.com:

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/05/23/4929402/tensions-rise-over-nc-charter.html#.U4DSpvldXD0#storylink=cpy